30 November 2008

A deal has been negotiated between NDP Leader Jack Layton and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion that would see them form a coalition government for two and a half years, the CBC's Keith Boag reported, citing sources.

The NDP would be invited into cabinet and get 25 per cent of seats, Boag said, adding that the party wouldn't get the position of the finance chair or the deputy prime minister's post.

"That's the big step forward tonight," Boag reported.

"The most difficult question is who'll be the leader," Boag said, adding that Dion, who negotiated the deal, believes he has the right to be prime minister.

In other breaking news... Liberal leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff was found bleeding heavily from every bodily orifice... after suffering what is being described as a "thermonuclear stroke"...

Mr. Ignatieff met with lame duck Liberal leader, Stéphane Dion, and leadership candidates Bob Rae and Dominic LeBlanc in Toronto last night and hammered out a deal that would see Mr. Dion and Mr. Rae step aside, with the latter named to a senior post, likely Foreign Affairs Minister.

It is understood that Mr. Ignatieff was reluctant to sign on unless he was named interim leader because it would leave Mr. Dion, who was recently rejected by the Canadian electorate, as leader.

NDP Leader Jack Layton can be heard on the tapes boasting to his caucus that he had prepared scenarios to bring down the government with the help of the Bloc Quebecois before the Conservatives issued their recent economic statement.

Holy crap... what's the deal here? Is this another Watergate break-in kinda deal?

The New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois held talks to form a coalition party well before the opposition's uproar over the government's fiscal update, CTV News has learned.

NDP Leader Jack Layton was in talks with Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe for a "considerable period of time," reported CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife on Sunday.

Well... isn't that special... looks like Taliban Jack has been plotting with the Separatistes for some time now...

According to the audio tape, Layton appears to take credit for the possibility of a coalition.

"Let's just say we have strategies. This whole thing would not have happened if the moves hadn't been made with the Bloc a long time ago and locked them in early," Layton says.

"Because, you couldn't put three people together in one or three hours. The first part was done a long time ago."

So much for looking out for the interests of Canadians.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"If people thought too much of their money was going to Quebec before..."

And...

"I'd like to know how Layton is ever going to be able to live down the fact that he conspired to bring down the elected gov't (of all 6 weeks or so) BEFORE it had any chance to introduce substantive legislation proposals."

-- MUMBAI, India -- The only gunman captured by police after a string of attacks on Mumbai told authorities he belonged to the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a senior police officer said Sunday.

The group has long been seen as a creation of the Pakistani intelligence service to help wage its clandestine war against India in disputed Kashmir.

Police arrested the lone surviving militant, Ajmal Qasab, and Mr. Maria said he confessed his links to Lashkar during interrogation. “Ajmal Qasab has received training in a L-e-T training camp in Pakistan,” he said.

“Our interrogation indicates that the terrorists had other places that they also intended to target.”

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UPDATE: Second murdered Canadian identified

-- MONTREAL -- The second Canadian who died in the Mumbai attacks has been identified as Elizabeth Russell, the partner of the Montreal physician who was also killed.

A crazed man who stabbed a woman to death at a party and then -- according to neighbours -- slit her three-year-old son's throat was shot dead by police yesterday.

The relative and neighbours at the scene outside 1010 Glen St. unit 155 said a fight erupted at a party in the house yesterday and identified the dead man as Gino Petrolia, though the spelling of his last name couldn't immediately be confirmed.

Neighbour Lindsay Demers, 20, said Gino fatally stabbed Leslie Kelly. Demers said she had spoken with relatives of the Kellys. Demers said Gino had been angered that his son Steven was in the custody of Rick and Kelly, apparently because of Gino's mental issues.

He was dangerous enough they wouldn't let him have custody of his child... he should have been in lockdown.

"In the work, Frances Widdowson, a political scientist, and Albert Howard, a former government and aboriginal group consultant, suggest that indigenous peoples did not exist at the same level of social and cultural development as Europeans when they first encountered each other."

"Even more controversially, they suggest many pre-modern characteristics of indigenous societies still exist in First Nation communities today and prevent them from integrating into modern society and succeeding."

"This, they argue, is the problem confronting First Nations today: they need to catch up culturally."

"I’m at the Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner right now and a quiet rumour among a small number of of the gathered people here is that Prime Minister Stephen Harper may prorogue Parliament until the new year."

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FROM THE COMMENTS: What gentle, compassionate man said...

"This becomes relevant because suddenly, he is weak. In fact, at this particular moment, he is almost unable to defend himself. Owing to a ridiculously ill-considered act of hubris, he has laid himself vulnerable to his opponents."

Separately, coalition talks between the Liberals, NDP and Bloc continued Saturday. The NDP held an emergency caucus to discuss the details of a possible fiscal stimulus package to be introduced by the coalition government shortly after it would take power.

The NDP is asking for senior cabinet posts in any coalition government, including positions in charge of economic and social portfolios.

A court in Iran has ruled that a man who blinded a woman with acid after she spurned his marriage proposals will also be blinded with acid. The court also ordered the attacker, 27-year-old Majid Movahedi, to pay compensation to the victim.

Ms Bahrami also said that Movahedi had also threatened to kill her.

Hey, here's a thought.. How about, in the spirit of Islamic... cough, cough... justice... we let the family of SFC Christopher Speer decide what to do with homegrown terrorist Omar Khadr?

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Great idea, but we had better hurry the arrangements. Bets are that the the liberal coalition will have Khadr as guest of honour at the next Santa Claus parade."

28 November 2008

How quickly will newly appointed Defence Minister "Taliban Jack" Layton move... to open up negotiations with the jihadis in Afghanistan?

"NDP Leader Jack Layton and Stephane Dion have discussed 'roles and responsibilities' in a new coalition, an NDP official confirmed. It is expected that Layton would have a place in the new cabinet, and 'various players would play different roles'.”

Nothing galvanizes politicians like a threat to their own interests, and while the Liberals might have grumbled a bit and approved Mr. Flaherty’s plans for the economy, they’re willing to throw the country into chaos to preserve their access to the public purse.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"My question is why do my tax dollars have to go to a political party?"

And...

"If the Governor General accepted the Bloc Quebecois as part of the governing coalition, then hopefully the Queen would step in and fire her for dereliction of duty."

That rumour must have come from the camps of one of the Liberal leadership contenders, not from the NDP, the source said, adding that everything is on the table — including bringing in Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale to be prime minister.

The co-operation of the Bloc Québécois would be required for any Liberal-NDP coalition to function.

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FROM THE COMMENTS: Visions of sugarplums...

"...Canadians grabbing their chests at the thought of a Dipper Minister of Finance..."

And...

"If the opposition wants to go to the polls on the issue of taxpayer funding of political parties I say bring it on."

The family of murder victim Jordan Ormonde wants a public inquiry into why killer Benny Krasniqi was free on three peace bonds after earlier knifing incidents.

A month before he killed Jordan Ormonde by slashing his throat, Krasniqi punched a parking control officer and bolted. It was alleged that during his escape that Krasniqi dropped a knife -- which was recovered during the pursuit.

The official says NDP Leader Jack Layton asked Broadbent to call Chretien with the idea that the two elder statesmen could finesse a deal between the two parties to defeat the minority Conservative government and form a coalition with support from the Bloc Quebecois.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says the two former leaders spoke at least four times.

27 November 2008

Liberal party wigs out... as Harper government announces proposal to end taxpayer subsidies to political parties...

Opposition parties denounced the proposal to end per-vote subsidies in the name of economic restraint as a partisan power play.

Liberal finance critic Scott Brison said his party was still deliberating on whether to oppose the proposal, but said it marks an early return to political gamesmanship by the Tories after the election.

Hey, Scotty... how about we get a little crazy... and, you know... ask the people who have to actually pay the freight here...

A man has been taken to hospital in critical condition after being shot in the city's east end. Toronto police say they were called to a highrise apartment at 1840 Victoria Park Ave., north of Lawrence Ave. E., just before midnight.

Meanwhile, police in the city's Weston-area are also searching for suspects after a man was found shot in the abdomen outside a home on Lindy Lou Rd., south of Finch Ave. W.

"'Prior to reaching the convoy, the bomber who was sitting in a small vehicle, detonated the bombs that were in the car and as a result of that unfortunately, a number of civilians were killed and a number were injured,' said Bashary."

"One bystander said most of the victims were city sanitation workers."

Among those held captive were said to be Americans, British, Canadians, Italians, Swedes, Yemenis, New Zealanders, a Singaporean and Israelis.

CTV News, citing Indian media reports, said that 10 Canadians were among those held hostage.

Contrary to what you're gonna hear from Dawg and company... there's only one way to deal with these psychotics... no dialogue, no concessions... no Guantanamo... you find these guys and you find where they came from... and you LIGHT THEM UP.

26 November 2008

Two British men working in Mumbai described how the gunmen burst into the Kandahar restaurant at another hotel, the Oberoi, and rounded up diners who appeared to be tourists.

Alex Chamberlain, who is in Mumbai working for the Indian Premier League website said: "A guy burst into the Kandahar with a machine gun. He was in western dress wearing jeans and he asked for British and American tourists."

"They told everybody to stop and put their hands up and asked if there were any British or Americans. My friend said to me, don't be a hero, don't say you are British."

"I am sure that is what this is all about. They were talking about British and Americans specifically."

-- Mumbai, Nov 27 (IANS) -- Two top police officials were killed while the chief of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) was grievously injured as security forces took on terrorists in Mumbai following terror attacks late Wednesday night.

-- MUMBAI -- At least 80 people were killed and 250 wounded in a series of shootings around India's financial capital Mumbai on Wednesday night, with two five-star hotels among the targets in what police called a terror attack.

India has suffered a wave of bomb attacks in recent years. Most have been blamed on Islamist militants, although police have also arrested suspected Hindu extremists thought to be behind some of the attacks.

A 16-year-old, who can't be named because of his age, was charged with forcible entry, assault with a weapon, robbery, aggravated assault, possession of property obtained by crime, threatening death and fail to comply.

...shittin' me...Does this mean "tay-sachs" and "sickle cell anemia" are off the list too?

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"What about breast cancer?"

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ASK AN ACTUAL DOCTOR: Our newest feature at "the halls"

"You know the more I think of this the angrier it makes me. I personally think that the Alumni should seriously punish these little "socialists" by holding out all donations until they agree to go out and spend a day with a few teens with Cystic Fibrosis."

Two people voted against his motion, including third-year student Nick Bergamini.

“They're trying to score cheap points by playing politics with a disease,” Mr. Bergamini said Tuesday night. “What's important to note that this does not represent what Carleton students are about. If it's going to be a black mark on anybody, it should be the student union.”

Somali pirates have hijacked a Yemeni cargo ship, reported to be the 39th successful hijacking by pirates off the Horn of Africa this year. Head of the East African Seafarers' Association Andrew Mwangura said the MV Amani was taken in the Gulf of Aden.

Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Monday that the alliance was not considering any naval blockade.

He said that such action has not been endorsed by the UN Security Council.

Geez... isn't that sorta the same kind of reasoning that allowed Rwanda to spiral into madness and genocide. I guess the last straw for me was when the various U.N. member nations decided that Libya (I shit you not) should get to be a member of the... cough, cough... Security Council.

The last thing the world needs right now is disruption of one of its busiest shipping lanes and a spike in insurance premiums. But the cause of the present surge of piracy is no less worrying than its consequences.

Lynch has become a gross embarrassment to the government. Hand-picking Moon to do a very narrow and selective review – in the face of Parliament’s own reviews – was an act of insubordination, and an act of political usurpation.

She’s a bureaucrat, not a lawmaker. But she was acting like an MP. She’s not. She’s a second-rate appointee, who presides over a corrupt agency. She prefers damage control and PR to actually fixing the problem in her rotting agency.

So what is the next move here?

Ezra's got an idea...

It’s the Prime Minister’s move now. He was too tolerant with Lynch, letting her upstage Parliament. Now she proposes to have hearings and consultations – clearly Parliament’s function.

How much longer will Lynch continue to give her bosses orders? How much longer will they allow her to play MP?

The campaign against Maclean's that was born that night has now failed in three jurisdictions, and the public outcry at its perceived frivolity has drawn Canada's entire human rights bureaucracy, fairly or unfairly, into scandal and disrepute.

"I don't use, actually, the word 'failed,' " Prof. Elmasry said. "The first point that I did learn from this exercise is that Islamophobia is alive and well in Canada, in the media and also in politics," he said.

"In all of this, WE'VE been victimized."

Hang on a second... who exactly is we?

Prof. Elmasry said he represents more than 70% of Canada's Muslim population, which he pegs at one million.

-- CANADIAN PRESS -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper is “playing politics” and remains indifferent to Omar Khadr’s plight because the Guantanamo Bay prisoner is “brown-skinned” and a Muslim, says the leader of one of Canada’s largest Islamic groups.

Iraqi police say at least a dozen employees of the Iraqi Trade Ministry were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near a passenger bus transporting them to work.

A second explosion took place less than an hour later, when a female suicide bomber blew herself up at a checkpoint leading into Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. Five people, including two members of the Iraqi army, were killed in the blast. Officials say at least 12 people were wounded.

In a third explosion, a roadside bomb apparently targeting an Iraqi police patrol reportedly killed one person and wounded five others.

Yessirree... they'll be dancing in the streets of ol' Baghdad tonight.

-- FARAH PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it. “I didn’t realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies’ lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us.”

The UK saw 749 Down's births in 2006, up from 717 in 1989 when tests came in. The Down's Syndrome Association surveyed 1,000 parents to find out why they had pressed ahead with a pregnancy despite a positive test result.

Hmmm... I guess it's not just Sarah Palin, huh?

A fifth said they had known somebody with Down's, a third cited religious or anti-abortion beliefs and 30% felt life had improved for people with Down's.

-- TORONTO -- Paramedics rushed the victim, about 18 years old, to Sunnybrook hospital after he was found bleeding by a school on Driftwood Ct. at 4:20 p.m., police said. Toronto medics treated the teen at the scene before taking him to hospital.

Police said there appeared to be evidence that at least two people shot at each other. The victim was found beside a schoolyard basketball court, but investigators suspect the shooting may have occurred in a nearby field.

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RELATED: Wonderful day in the neighbourhood

A young man walked into a Toronto hospital Monday afternoon after someone shot him in the jaw, say police.

Officers were called to a Driftwood Ave. housing complex, near Jane St. and Finch Ave. W., to investigate reports of gunshots around 2:45 p.m., said Toronto Police Const. Tonyo Vella.

23 November 2008

A July 2008 letter from Ms. Turpel-Lafond to the ministry, obtained by Vancouver newspaper 24 Hours through a freedom of information request, cited four cases involving children left in homes that had been judged unsafe.

After the letter became public in September, B.C. Child and Family minister Tom Christensen said those cases had been investigated and that the children in question were safe.

Aboriginal children account for fewer than one in 10 people in the province, but represent more than half the children in care.

Wanna know how government actually works?

Bureaucrat 1: "Hey, the newspapers are sniffin' around all those battered children we shifted around to foster homes."

Bureaucrat 2: "Damn... I guess we're gonna have to start vetting these people... BEFORE we place the kids. What a pain."

A man "banned for life" by a court from possessing firearms is wanted for shooting a man in the leg during a botched drug deal in Brampton.

Charles Agbajoh, 20, who uses an alias of Jason Hilton, is wanted by Peel Region detectives for the Nov. 2 shooting of a 31-year-old man in the leg during a drug deal in a stairwell at a Hanson Rd. building, near Hurontario Rd. north of Dundas St.

Just another graduate of fiberal "catch and release" justice...

Agbajoh was convicted in Brampton court of a number of firearm offences last Dec. 5. He was sentenced to 14 months in jail, but was released on two years probation after being credited for 10 months in pre-trial custody. He was also handed a lifetime prohibition from possessing firearms.

Agbajoh is described as being 5-foot-11, about 170 pounds with a thin build, has black hair in cornrows and wears a metal teeth grill.

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LAST WORD: More empty Liberal promises...

The deaths of Saramma Varughese, 75, and Susan John, 43, in their home should be the tragedy that rewrites the law, a Queen's Park rally heard yesterday.

Their neighbour, Nathaniel O'Brien, 31, who is charged with first-degree murder, was out on bail at the time.

"While they are out on bail it is imperative the government monitors actions so that you won't have the (opportunity) to commit a crime," Rev. Manoj Zachia told the crowd, advocating electronic monitoring of violent offenders.

"They have our commitment to do whatever we must to ensure the dangerous are not endangering our communities," Attorney General Chris Bentley said.

Well, Chris... call me wacky... how about we start with keeping dangerous criminals in jail?

22 November 2008

“The remark by John Lennon, which triggered deep indignation mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a ‘boast' by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll,” Vatican daily Osservatore Romano said.

...is that the world is governed not by ordinary and predictable events but by extraordinary and unpredictable ones.

The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs is an example of a black swan. The Internet is a good black swan, the crash of '08 a bad one. Except for one or two eccentric cranks, no one saw it coming.

Another lesson of the black swan is that expertise is useless. No one has a clue why the markets have gone down so far, or whether they'll go down more, or how long it will really take for the world to absorb China's three-year backlog of refrigerators.

You might as well ask the nearest cab driver. And if he tells you, "God only knows," he's giving you a more honest answer than the well-paid people in good suits who have devoted their careers to analyzing these matters.

Yogi Berra was right when he said it's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.

Today's episode featured a couple of firefighters who yammered on about resuscitating people's pets at fire scenes. At one point the valiant "smoke-eaters" fruitlessly tried to put a special oxygen mask on somebody's poor pooch... and all I can say is... I hope these guys are more proficient with ladders and hoses than they were with the pet-o-mask.

The point here is... while it's certainly nice that Fido gets the full court press too... there's no way this fluff qualifies as actual news.

Ditto for the intrepid "reporter on the street" who was sent out before dawn to get the scoop on the international financial upset. Seems she was reduced to corralling some poor woman on her way to work and obtaining her opinion on yesterday's stock market meltdown.

Now, one would hope that the woman in question was actually a stockbroker... but there was no name and no mention of her credentials or her occupation... and from her simplistic financial prognostication... (apparently we're all doomed)... I suspect she actually works in the brokerage cafeteria.

If they dumb this stuff down any further, I'm afraid people's IQ's are gonna start plummeting.

Or maybe it's just too late already.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Last night we watched the local Toronto CTV news."

"Nine minutes in, after about 5 minutes of the triple murder suicide, about three of the economic situation, and one on the 'blizzard', the next story was about 'a SHOCKING result' on some dumb dance show."

-- TORONTO -- All but one board member -- Hamlin Grange -- voted in support of board chairman Dr. Alok Mukherjee's report, which recommended leaving Toronto Police's current "Don't Ask" policy as is.

That was despite the pleas of countless legal groups and immigration advocates who earlier made their case for a change in policy. They were demanding Police Chief Bill Blair instruct his officers not to inform authorities when they learn of a person's illegal status.

Outside the meeting, Scott told reporters the fight is far from over and accused the board of "blatant racism".

Once again, I'm gonna ask that anonymous commenters to the blog take on some sort of pseudonym... (for example, a gmail account)... to distinguish themselves from the increasingly mindless, race-baiting, one-trick pony herd. Like a lot of fellow conservative travellers... I've been getting all kinds of obscene, threatening trolls... and it's just getting to the point where it interferes with the flow and enjoyment of actual conversations. Verbal sparring is one thing... simply spouting anonymous obscenities and silly threats is totally another.

It's not like this dim bulb even has a point... or perhaps being an obnoxious troll IS THE POINT... so I've simply been deleting some of the stupidest stuff as it comes in.

I could always go to "full moderation" like so many other bloggers... or no comments at all... like Kathy Shaidle... but the truth is, I usually enjoy the interplay in the comments even more than any editorialising I do in the posts themselves.

I guess I'd just never really anticipated having the internet equivalent of obscene phone hangups constantly muddying up the comment threads.

I actually don't know what's more pathetic... this guy's apparent need to constantly spew sexual references... or the fact that he just can't ever seem to get enough of my attention.

Yup, that's mighty impressive, nonny... in a moody adolescent sorta way. I hate to think what you do when you're not hissing & spitting in the comments here.

I should mention this is only one of the half dozen comment threads "my own personal troll" decided to bombard last night. I can't even begin to imagine what sort of nonsense the female Blogging Tories have to put up with.

And for the life of me... I just can't figure out what the payoff is here... especially, since I've decided I'm just gonna zap this silliness as it shows up. Maybe it's a lefty thing.

Anyway, folks... if you wanna insure your comments won't be summarily deleted... I suggest you pick a pseudonym and take some responsibility for your words.

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UPDATE: Received an email from a reader...

Looks like CC was so pleased with himself, he used his alter-ego drive-by troll profile to crow about his latest triumph in his own comments. And he's certainly impressing noted CC-licker... Kevron.

"The bigger question is this: Should the vocal minority always be the one to control the debate?"

"One of the spinoff effects of Web 2.0 and social-media tools such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook is that they make it even easier for relatively small groups or niche markets to seem larger and more influential than they actually are."

I think of this sort of thing as "Michael Moore" syndrome.

Grab hold of some small aspect of an issue... turn on the uber-obnoxious... and spin, spin, spin.

I'm not publishing them to further any debate. I'm publishing them as a personal insult to Jennifer Lynch. And why not? Her continued employment on the taxpayers' dime is an insult to every Canadian who believes in equality before the law.

Here's the text again. It's legal for a Jew like me to publish it. It's illegal for a Christian like Rev. Boissoin to publish it.

That's sick.

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UPDATE: The whitewash continues...

The Ottawa Police had asked the RCMP to investigate, when Bell Canada testified that the CHRC hacked into the Internet account of a private citizen. You can see the sworn testimony of Bell Canada's officer, Alain Monfette, describing the exact details of the hacking in this transcript, at pages 5645 and 5646.

This was the Warman v. Lemire hearing that the CHRC desperately tried have a publication ban on the proceedings.

20 November 2008

Should we be giving free heroin to addicts? Don't choke. Researchers in Vancouver say yes.

And they've just spent $8-million in public money to prove their case. Last month, after concluding a landmark clinical trial, they announced that the best way to treat hard-core heroin addicts is: Give them more heroin!

They argue that methadone, a much safer treatment, doesn't work with this crowd. But free heroin makes them happier, healthier and less inclined to steal so they can get their next fix.

Call me crazy... but how about we spend taxpayer dollars on folks who actually care if they live or die.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"Personally I think if we are going to go this way we may as well have an island where we send any drug addict, and drop drugs by plane. It would probably reduce crime to a greater extent and harm addicts as much as any other government program proposed."

"Perhaps Mr. Sit could file a human rights complaint against Ms. Ouwroulis. He could accuse her of racism (if 'Asian' is a race), and she could accuse him of ageism. I wonder which ism would trump the other, in this game of politically correct poker."

But of course... there's no comparable "man bites dog" story, like the sad, sad tale... of an aging stripper.

"She's an ageing woman; he's just an Asian man. I think he'd lose -- Asians don't do well in the grievance business. As a group, they're too successful to be 'victims'."

"But Ms. Ouwroulis? If she can just avoid trash talking blacks, gays or Jews or a little bit longer, I think she could be in the money."